


Waiting

by kiwi_socks



Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst, Canon only with soulmates, Canonical Character Death, F/M, First touch with your soulmate leaves a mark, Potential underage relationship that never happens, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-04
Updated: 2018-04-04
Packaged: 2019-04-18 07:18:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14207994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiwi_socks/pseuds/kiwi_socks
Summary: In which every event is as in canon except with soulmates, where the first touch leaves a mark.





	Waiting

The day he found out waiting for the touch of his parents was futile was also the day the old woman told him about soulmates, that he still had someone besides her out there for him.

Shinobi had no use for love between people who shared similar DNA. If it was possible to have less than no love, that's how much they would need for a stranger who they will probably never meet, one of the many who may _wait_ their entire their lives for and die not knowing, possibly never having had in a soulmate the first place.  He doesn't bother waiting for this new _idea_ of a person.

When he throws away as much of his human body as possible, it is with no regrets about a missed opportunity. Or, as Orochimaru says with a chuckle, opportuni _ties_. That becomes a recurring 'joke' - that Sasori had a veritable harem waiting for him but would never know.

It is tasteless.

 

…

 

Neither the old woman or the girl spare much attention to her wounds after the little girl stops her own bleeding. However, in his scrutiny of this new irritation, he sees the red mark underneath the dirt and leftover blood.

It is not the same color as the already-drying blood; closer to the intense red of arterial blood. Close enough for them not to notice, but different enough him to catch it and for a moment he can't tear his eyes away.

It is beautiful.  It would be true art, if she were not flesh and blood.

There is no mark on the iron sand, on him. It is probably only on her because the attack had his chakra.

He brings his focus back to the fight. Emotions to those who share DNA and the one who shares an unknown bond still have no use for a shinobi.

 

…

 

Sasori knows exactly why he lets his grandmother pierce him with a final embrace of Mother and Father.

Emotion.

Emotion that he didn't even know when he had begun fighting; possibly when he saw the mark (Beautiful; even if he were not eternal, even if she wasn't, he would remain on her until her flesh rotted away).  Ironic, that the person who was alive but he never waited for should come.

He finds it strange that emotion being his downfall doesn't grate him as much as he thought it could have.  The small irritation easily comes out in his words, though.  
  
He is _glad_ that his grandmother survives healing the girl's fatal wound.

He wonders if she would have enjoyed being a puppet with him, says something similar out loud to satisfy his curiosity.

He hadn't missed the beginning of another red mark peaking out of the top of her left glove.  
  
He tells her a clue he hopes will help her find the person she so desperately seeks.

He...

 

…

 

Sakura doesn't notice it until she's sitting in the shower, breathing and hiccuping in the rush of water drops that've gone from warm to tepid for how long she's been there, taking advantage of the privacy to try to finish mourning Chiyo. Her thumb brushes over the mark before she's conscious of her hand moving. Disbelieving, she moves her wrist flush against it, comparing the colors.

She has no tears left when the two shapes join together with nothing but a shadow and the crease of flesh to tell that they're separate. Numbly, she thinks, ' _An extension of my elbow cover will be the easiest way to cover it.  Maybe that can_ _match my gloves as perfectly_ '.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Covering up soul marks in public when you aren't engaged/married to the person is traditional with how personal they are; while not as scandalous as flashing a nipple, it's like showing deep cleavage, only not sexual. For ninja, covering has the additional purpose of not advertising a weakness, and letting someone see one is either a show of trust or arrogance. Civilians whip off covers when they go inside as quick as a woman does a bra at the end of the day, though.
> 
> Also, I've been working on Moments of Perfection on and off this entire time. I think I'm at version #4 of chapter four, with each version 'marked' when I decide to scrap what I have and go in a completely different direction with the plot. Two previous versions had two and three more chapters written while I was trying to finish them. Counting the times I just edited to slightly change the direction of the plot would be too many...


End file.
